Getting Involved With ConTessa

As a Volunteer GM / Event Owner

The full content of our events is created by the many ConTessans who volunteer their time and energy to our goals of representation. Though we'll often offer tracks and themed events, we encourage all our volunteers to create the events they want. That means you can run whatever game you like using whatever system you like, run panels on whatever topics you're interested in (and we'll help you get panelists to boot), and think out of the box to create whatever kind of events make you passionate about gaming.

What we do for you:

Submit Your Events to the Convention

Actively Promote Your Event

Provide On-Site Support for Your Event in a Safer Space

Provide GM Incentives and Thank-You Gifts

...all you have to do is show up and run your game, panel, workshop, LARP, or other event!

To get involved as a GM/Event Owner, stay tuned to our events page, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and/or sign up for our GM/Event Owner newsletter here:

GM / Event Owners Newsletter

Email Address

We respect your privacy.

Thank you!

As a Player / Attendee

Check in with our blog, website, Facebook and Twitter regularly for updated information as to what conventions we'll be attending. Once our events are finalized, we post our full schedule on our events calendar. You can also keep up to date with what we're doing by signing up for the events newsletter here:

Events Newsletter

Email Address

We respect your privacy.

Thank you!

As a Convention

Do you have or know of a convention you'd like to see a ConTessa presence at? At present, we can only afford to go to those conventions that will pay for the travel, and room and board for two ConTessa staff members. In order for a convention to qualify for ConTessa support, it must:

Have a clearly defined harassment policy or code of conduct that not only outlines what behavior is unacceptable, but also gives convention goers a clear path to resolution if those rules are broken.

Have a room or other separate area for ConTessa events. We prefer to run our events in our own space rather than in a larger room with other players. This allows us to create a safer space for our GMs and players.

Invite ConTessa to participate. We want to know that the convention - not just those attending it - is ready for ConTessa and committed to increasing diversity in their space.

Give us the ability to submit events on behalf of our event owners. We need to know

As a Publisher

As a representational organization, ConTessa's programs are aimed at getting people into gaming, GMing, and eventually creating. It's our hope that by adding more diverse voices to the overall freelance pool, we can help publishers hire for diversity and, ultimately, create more diverse products. Publishers can get their names in with our members early by donating products and working with us on special projects that feature their work.

Here are some of the things we can do:

SWAG (Stuff We All Get) Bags. We give away thank-you bags to our GMs at most venues. At Gen Con alone, we give out nearly 100 of these gift bags to out event runners, who are GMs, creators, and leaders in the field. This is a good place to put a short version of your game, brochure explaining your company, or a small, fun item such as a miniature or temporary tattoo.

Event / Door Prizes. During the year, we collect donations from publishers that are then given out in prizes at our convention events. This is a great way to get some visibility around a larger item, as we'll advertise for that event using the prize.

Co-Branded Events. Want a diversity-forward playtest of your most recent game? Looking for a diversity-themed organized play event? We have over 20 tables at Gen Con alone, and work with conventions to cultivate our own spaces. We're happy to work with publishers to use our space to create diversity-themed events!

Even more! We've got the space and expertise to do many things. Contact us to find out how you can get involved!

If you're interested in participating as a publisher, contact ConTessa's founder Stacy Dellorfano at stacy@contessa.rocks.